Take the full container to your own premises when you have a forklift, room for a trailer and the labour to empty it fast. Unstuff at Port Klang when your site cannot receive a container, when the cargo splits between addresses, or when you cannot unload inside the free time. The deciding cost is often not the haulage rate but the terminal's storage clock and the shipping line's free time.
Key takeaways
- The Westports container tariff gives a laden general-cargo import box 96 free hours in the yard for non-ASEAN cargo, 120 for ASEAN, counted from when the box is received to when it leaves.
- Unstuffing at the Westports container freight station is a published charge: RM135 for a palletised 20-foot box and RM205 for a 40-foot, or RM190 and RM305 if the cargo is loose.
- The shipping line runs a second, separate clock. Maersk's Malaysian import tariff of 1 July 2024 gives a dry or high-cube box seven free days, with MYR 80 (20-foot dry) and MYR 145 (40-foot) charged over days 8 to 10.
What is the difference between full container delivery and unstuffing at Port Klang?
Full-container delivery means a haulier collects the sealed box from Westports or Northport, takes it to your premises, and returns the empty to the depot afterwards. Unstuffing means the container is emptied at a container freight station (CFS) near the port and the cargo travels inland by lorry, often in several loads. Both are routine at Port Klang; only one suits a given shipment.
Not sure which your shipment needs? Send us the container size, cargo and delivery address and we will tell you which route it should take before booking.
What do Westports CFS charges cost against a full container delivery?
Unstuffing a 40-foot box at the Westports freight station costs RM405 in terminal charges before anything moves inland: RM200 to dray the laden box from the yard to the CFS, plus RM205 to unstuff it palletised. The same two charges for a 20-foot box come to RM265. Full-container delivery replaces both with your own labour and one road round trip.
| What you pay for | Full-container delivery | Unstuffing at the CFS |
|---|---|---|
| Container yard storage | General cargo: free for 96 hours (non-ASEAN) or 120 hours (ASEAN), then RM17.30 (20ft) / RM25.30 (40ft) for the first chargeable band | |
| Move to the freight station | Not applicable | RM130 (20ft) / RM200 (40ft) per laden move |
| Emptying the box | Your own labour and forklift | RM135 (20ft) / RM205 (40ft) palletised; RM190 / RM305 loose |
| Cargo storage after emptying | None — it is in your warehouse | 72 hours free, then RM4.50 per cubic metre per day, charged back to the unstuffing date if exceeded |
| Customs examination, if called | RM149.60 (20ft) / RM230 (40ft) to move the box to the inspection bay or scanner and back | RM275 (20ft) / RM450 (40ft) for a full examination at the CFS |
| Empty return | Trucked back from your premises | Returned from the freight station |
| Onward road legs | One round trip, port to your door | One or more lorry loads, quoted per trip |
Westports tariff booklet, 30 October 2025; Maersk Malaysian import tariff, 1 July 2024. Checked 17 October 2026. Free time differs by carrier and terminal.
These are Westports' own figures. Northport and private off-dock operators set their own, so ask your forwarder which freight station the box is going to before comparing anything.
When should you take the full container to your own premises?
Take the full container to your own premises when the site can turn it around in hours rather than days: a loading bay or level hardstanding, a forklift rated for your heaviest pallet, and people there when the truck is scheduled. Full-container delivery also assumes one delivery address, because its advantage disappears as soon as the load has to be split.
Two site questions settle most of it: can a prime mover and a 40-foot trailer turn into your yard and out again, and can you unload at height? An importer with no forklift does not automatically need a freight station — a side loader delivery grounds the box at the premises instead. A third is weight: ask your haulier whether the laden combination of prime mover, trailer, container and cargo is within the ceiling that applies on Malaysian roads (the 2026 trailer and weight rules). Then check the haulage lanes and rates out of Port Klang.
When is unstuffing at the port the better call?
Unstuff at Port Klang when the container itself is the obstacle: a tenanted unit with no yard access, a shophouse or light industrial lot a trailer cannot enter, cargo destined for three or four customers, or goods that must be counted, inspected or re-palletised before they travel inland.
One thing to know before choosing it. The cargo gets 72 free hours in the Westports freight station, but once that period is exceeded the tariff states that storage is “charged retrospective from date of unstuffing” — so a delay in collecting is billed from the first day, not the fourth.
Which clocks decide whether you actually save money?
Two clocks typically run on a Port Klang import and different parties bill them. Westports charges for the container occupying its yard once the free hours are gone. The shipping line charges separately for your use of its container wherever it sits: Maersk's Malaysian import tariff allows a dry box seven free days, with MYR 80 charged over days 8 to 10 on a 20-foot.
Maersk sets out how its clock runs:
“you will have one combined free time period and compensation for utilisation of equipment inside and outside of terminals or depots, from vessel discharge to gate in empty inclusive of weekends and public holidays”
Two parts of that wording cost importers money. The clock starts at vessel discharge, not when you collect the box, so free days go while the declaration is still being processed. It stops only at gate in empty, so unloading at your factory changes nothing until the empty is back. Maersk adds that its tariff “is subject to storage and other surcharges upon the terminal tariff” — terminal storage sits on top, not instead. Other carriers set their own free time.
Our guide to avoiding demurrage and detention explains how free days are counted. For a shipment DNE handles, send us the bill of lading and carrier and we will count the days from discharge against that carrier's published tariff, and say so if your own contract terms differ.
What should you tell your forwarder before the vessel arrives?
Give your forwarder the physical facts about the delivery site and the commercial facts about the shipment before the ship berths, not after it lands. Those answers decide whether a Port Klang container is delivered whole or unstuffed at the port, and the decision is cheap early, expensive late.
- The delivery address, with a photograph of the entrance. Trailer access is judged from the gate and turning circle, not the postcode.
- What is on site to unload with: forklift capacity, a dock leveller, or nothing.
- How many hours you need to empty the box.
- Whether the cargo splits between addresses, customers or dates.
- The carrier and the bill of lading, so free time is read off the right tariff.
DNE Forwarding was founded in 1999 and now moves more than 1,000 containers a month through Port Klang. It is a forwarding agent licensed by Royal Malaysian Customs (JKDM) and a licensed container haulier (KA), so it handles both the customs clearance and the haulage leg. For partial loads, LCL consolidation at Port Klang is a different route.
Frequently asked questions
Is unstuffing the same as devanning, destuffing or stripping?
Yes. Unstuffing, devanning, destuffing and stripping all describe emptying a container of its cargo. Westports uses “unstuffing” in its container freight station tariff, paired with “stuffing” for the export operation, so that is the term on a Westports invoice.
Who pays the unstuffing and storage charges at the terminal?
Westports heads its import container storage schedule “Consignee's A/C”, and the freight station handling charges sit in the same tariff booklet. Ask your forwarder for the tariff line, not one bundled figure.
Does unstuffing at the port stop demurrage and detention?
Not by itself. Where the carrier runs a combined tariff, the clock stops when the empty is gated in, not when the cargo comes out of it. Unstuffing at the port can help because the empty is released there rather than waiting at your premises for a return trip.
Is LCL cargo unstuffed at the port automatically?
Yes. Less-than-container-load cargo arrives consolidated with other shippers' goods, so the box is unstuffed at a freight station and the consignments separated before release. The unstuff-or-deliver choice arises only for a full container load.
Sources
- Westports Malaysia, Container Tariff Booklet, 30 October 2025.
- Maersk, Shipping to and from Malaysia: Import, 1 July 2024.
Dan Duar is Director of DNE Forwarding (M) Sdn Bhd, a licensed forwarding agent and container haulier at Port Klang, founded in 1999.